Mines the University of Michigan study of 75,000 American adults that found the highest demographic group for empathic power is middle aged women, when compared with men and younger and older groups.Notes that late middle-aged individuals show more empathic signals such as reacting with emotion to other's experiences and attempting to see the other's point of view. Women, however, rated considerably higher than men.

The results may be attributed to the fact that younger age groups are experiencing rapid growth in cognitive and emotional abilities, while older groups are going through a decrease in both.

Researchers pointed to several areas rich for future study. They wondered whether the fact that late middle-aged adults, having grown up during the civil rights and antiwar movements, may have increased levels of empathy.

The scientists also want to explore whether individuals can increase empathic abilities through training, perhaps through electronic media.

The role of empathy in social life and relationships is so important that this kind of research merits further investigation.

Darin's note: Empathy is the single most important social ability in humans and animals, and studies within the last decade have revealed fascinating information regarding the origin and nature of empathy.

Many cognitive scientists attribute empathy to a special class of cells in the brain called mirror neurons. I have performed a lot of research in this area, and plan to write much more about it in feature articles under "Mysteries of the Mind."

Hey, read your story and am very moved by it,
My name is Joshua Manstein, I am a senior at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. I am involved in part of an on-going year workshop involved in helping to spread and raise awareness for global empathy and fair ethical treatment of all mankind.
If you could just take some time out of your busy schedule to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. It would be greatly appreciated if you could like and support what you see to help share and hopefully contribute to our on-going campaign.

Thank you for you time, and have a wonderful day,
Sincerely,
Joshua Manstein